Capping-machine.



N.- M. LAP0RTE- CAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Iv'IAYI8. 15H4.

Iatented May Q2, 19

WIWI/[010;

i III'm-I NNI UNITED sTATps PATENT Genion.

NORBERT M. LA PORTE, or BALTrMonE, MAnYeNn, llissrenon To THE onown com: ,ANB SEAL confirm or BALTIMORE CITY, oEBALTmonE, MARYLAND, com

f POBATION 0F MARYLAND.

CAPPING-MCHINE.

Specification of Letters I'atent.

.Application filed May 18, 1914. Serial No. 839,29).

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I. NORBERT M. LA PORTE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Capping-Machines, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same. y

This invention relates to an improvement in capping machines, and particularly to a handsoperated machine for applying crown corks to bottles and the like.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and durable machine which will be economical to manufacture and easily transported and which will quickly apply the well-known type of crown cork to bot tlcs and similar vessels.

The machines heretofore constructed for the purpose of applying crown corks to bottles have usually been either power or treadle operated machines of heavy construction nd intended for use in large plants where great quantities of bottles were to be capped. f

lt has been found that these machines are entirely too complex and too expensive to install and operate where only a limited number of bottles are to be capped. It is the'object of `the present invention to provide a machine which can be conveniently and economically operated by unskilled labor under conditions where only a small number of bottles are to be capped at a time. The machine is particularly adapted for applying thin sheet metal crowns to milk bottles, where said bottles'and contents after having been sealed are to be subjected to a pasteurizing process.

With the above general the invention consists in the features, details of construction and combination of parts which will now be described in connectionwith the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a side elevation of an apparatus embodying the best form of this invention, the bottle-supporting table' being shown in section; 4

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same, with the plunger in section; I

Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional view taken in `a plane at right angles to the sectional porl tions of Eig. 2;

objects in View, A

' yFig 4 is a horizontal section on the line Patented May 22, 1917. Y

ist

capping head, showing, it in position 'for finally setting a cap.

Referring to the drawings,l isa wall'A plate adapted to be secured to a wall or po@ 1n any suitable way, as, for example, by

.means of lag screws indicated at 2. The

wall plate l is provided with extensions in the nature of brackets, the lower extension indicated at 3 `being arranged to carry a Ato bottle support, while the upper extension f serves to carry a plunger guideway 4 andk two upward-extending arms indicated at 5, which support a fulcrum pin 6. Between the extension 3 and the plunger gnideway 4,' the wall plate is provided with an intermediate extension indicated at 7, which is forked at its front end and arranged to re ceive the neck of the bottle to be capped, the fork being of such a shape that when the bottle is placed with its neck in said forli, the vaxis of the bottle will be in alineu ment with the axis of the plunger. The

bottle support comprises a table 8 having its upper surface recessed to receive a rush.- ion 9, of suitable elastic material, the tablf 8 being mounted on the upper end of i standard 10, which passes through a verti cal opening in the extension 3. The standu ard l0 is arranged to be engaged by a serer 11 threaded through the extension 3 an provided on its exterior with a suitable op erating handle 12. For the purpose of mori certainly preventing the standard 10 ronf: slipping downward and also to permit quicl. adjustment vertically of the standard in the extension 3, it has one side iiattened and sloped, the slope being upward and outward, this sloping surface being arranged to be engaged by the inner end o the screw 11. This sloping or wedge-surface is shown' at 13, Figs. l and 2. inthe plunger guides way 4 is mounted a`v` langer 14 haring its say, inclined upward and inward-the lower portion of the Walls. of the chamberl ex tending inward toward the axis of the plunger. This. inward-extending portionV indiv cated at 15 serves as a cap-bendingport1on and the diameter of opening at this lplace is larger than the. diameter of the chamber near the upper end thereof. The chamber of the capping head may be considered as having three portions, namely, the lower capbending portion t 15 hereinbefore referred to, a portion near the upper end of lesser diameter than that of the opening in the cap-bending-,potion indicated at 16, Fig. 5; this portion serving as a cap-setting portion. Between the cap-setting and capbending portions, the chamber has an enlarged diameter as indicated generally at 17. Furthermore, the slope of the walls of the chamber at 1'6 is such that any pressure against said walls due to the resiliency of the cap after bein'gset will produce a downward resultant tending to force the cap out of the chamber. The plunger is provided with a central opening, in which is mounted a permanent magnet 18, substantially cylindrical exteriorly and having a central slot, through which passes a transverse rod 19, Fig; 3, secured in the walls of the plunger, this rod serving to restrict the movement of the permanent magnet.- The Vlower end of the permanent magnet-1S is screwed into a presser foot 20 of magnetic material, such, for example, as a soft iron. The space be tween the two legs of the permanent magnet, at the point where it-is threaded into' the presser foot, is closed by a suitable filler block 21, which may also be of magneticmaterial. The permanent magnet, and with it `the presser foot, is yieldingly forced downward by suitable means, such as a spring 22 located in the recess in the plunger. Suitable means is provided for reciprocating the plunger, that shown in the present example comprising a lever 23 fulcrumed on the fulrrum pin 6, the axis of this fulcrum being back of the transverse `plane-through the vertical axis of thc plunger. This lever is provided with a double-actingcaln deviceLconsist-ing, in the present instance, of two lateral fianges 2t, whose upper and' lower faces have the desired curvature, the lower faces of the flanges bearing against a rounded top .E25 of the plunger. Theplun ger 14 is provided with ears '26Fig- 2, hav ing ends extending toward cach other and arranged to engage the upper-surfaces of the cam flanges 24. The lever` is also provided with a hook 27 extending in a general radial direction from the 'axis of the fnlcrumj, to whichlriook is attached one end of a spring QS, whose other endis suitably "secured -to the machine frame. For convenience in assembling, the spring is pro vided with eyes at cach end, one of which is engaged by tln` hook 27, and the other by a pin '29, in the frame.

The L eration of' thc device is as follows; The bottle suppontingtl'a/hle may be adplstfoot is magnetic by induction from the.

permanent magnet 18. A bottlemay now be 'placed upon the' cushion 9 of the bottle support, with its auf: pushed back into the fork 7 whereby the axis of the Vbottle will be Whenthe lever is pulled forward, its ca'in mechanism will push the plunger downward. The first effect of this is to bring the capbending portion 15 in contact with theouter edge of the skirt of the cap, thereby bending said skirt down, with its corrugations in contact with the lower edge of the bottle rim. A further downward movement of the capping head first permits the skirt of the cap to clear the. 'cap-bending portion and enter the. enlarged portion 17 of the conical chamber within the capping head. After still further downward movement of the capping headZ the walls ,of the conical chamber come in contact with the skirt at about the portion 16 and finally exert pressure on the u per edge of the skirt, thereby tending firm y to set the'skirt in'elose contact with the bottle rim, or, in other words, to roll'the skirt somewhat underthe rim. During the down- V"la 'in'line with the axis of the capping head.

ward movement of the plunger, the presser I foot 20 is maintained inclose contact with the cap by means of the spring 22, which is gradually compressed as the permanent magnet 18 enters the recess in the plunger, thereby holding the cap in proper position on the bottle. The position of the apparatus at'the time lthe cap-bending portion of the capping head has bent the skirt down- 'ward'is shown in Fig. 3, whereas the termiportion '16. It will be noted that the diameter of the chamber at this part-is less than the diameter` of any part ofthe chamber below said cap-setting portion: Further, the slope of the walls ofthe chamber at this point is such thatvif there is any outward spring ofthe` cap, such as would tend to create a pressure against. the chamber walls, suchprcssure would lbc resolved into two romppnents. one of which would be perpendirgkr to the ivall. while the other would be im downward direction. 'C0nsequently, as som, as the lever is raised and the capping bead lifted. iin-re is no tendency of the rap to hind or wir in the chamber. In other words, the tapped bottlereadily frees "with a bottle support,

i is

itself from the capping head and has suilicient clearance so that, as the capping-head ascends, the bottle will not be lifted.

It will be seen that, by a simple proportioning and arrangement of the chamber in the capping head, a A,satisfactory device is provided for applying a cap to a bottle, while at the Sametime avoiding the complex mechanisms heretofore considered necessary for bending and setting the cap firmly in place and for thereafter positively freeing the bottle from the capping mechanism.

l. In a capping machine, the combination, with a bottle support, of a capping head having a chamber to receive the upper end of the bottle, said chamber` having a cap-bending surface of circular cross-sectionA arranged to come into contact with the outer edge of the sirt of the cap and bend the same down into contactwith'thc bottle,

said chamber also having, above the capbending portion, a frusto-conical cap-setting portion, the maximum and minimum diameters of the frusto-conical portion being such that the upper edge of the skirt will contact with an intermediate diameter of the frusto-conical p'ortion, whereby the cap is set, and means for producing a relatii'e motion of the bottle support and capping head.

2. ln a capping machine, the combination, of a capping head having a chamber to receive the upper end of the article to be capped, said chamber comprising a cap-setting portion with downward-sloping workingfaces, a capbending portion below the cap-setting portion and having its Walls separated to a greater extent than are the Working-faces of the cap-setting portion, and an enlarged portion between the cap-bending and the cap-setting portions of 'the chamber, and means for producing a relative motion of the bottle' support and the capping head.

3. In a capping machine, the combinationh with a bottle support, of a capping head d surface, an intermediate part of which is arranged to come in contact with the skirt near its upper edge only, and force the same downward, whereby the` cap is set, and means for producing a relative motion of the. bottle support and capping head.

4. In a cappingmachme, the combination with a bottle support, of a capping head having a chamber to receive the upper end of the bottle, said chamber having a capbending surface of circular cross-sectionv arranged to come into contact with the outer edge of the skirt of the cap and bend the same down into contact with the bottle, said chamber also having, above the cap-bending portion, a frusto-conical cap-setting portion, the maximum and minimum diameters of the frusto-conical' portion being such that the upper edge of the skirt will contact with an intermediate diameter. of the frusto- `conical portion, whereby the cap is set, a permanent magnet movable with relation to said capping head, a presser foot carried by said permanent magnet and located within the chamber of the capping head, a spring tending to move the permanent magnet in a direction toward the bottle head,

andmeans for producing a relative motion of the bottle support and the cappinghead. ln testimony whereof, I have hereunto set myhand, in the presence ofa Witness.

NORBERT M. LA PORTE.

Witness A. WHITE. 

